Fluid pressure actuated device and means for controlling same



y 1934- v F. G. FOLBERTH El AL 1,968,434

FLUID PRESSURE ACTUATED DEVICE AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SAME Original Filed Sept. 20, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 2/ -1 /7 28 A; FEEDER/6K6 r0135??? H I? W/ll/AM M FOZBF/FT/Y July 31, 1934. v F. G. FOLBERTH ET! AL 8,

FLUID PRESSURE ACTUATED DEVICE AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SAME Original Filed Sept. 20, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 4 2 7 2 /6 gwuwntoz FEEDER/CA 6. FOZBE'IETH w/u/AM M. FOAM-E771 abtozmqs Patented July 31, 1934 UNITED STATES FLUID PRESSURE ACTUATED DEVICE AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING SAME Frederick G. Folberth and William M. Folberth,

Cleveland, Ohio Original application September 20, 1930, Serial No. 483,328. Divided and this application April 2'1, 1931, Serial No. 533,076

12 Claims.

This invention relates to fluid pressure actuated apparatus and more particularly to valves for controlling the operation of such apparatus.

The present application is a division of our co- 5 pending United States patent application, Serial No. 483,328, filed September 20, 1930.

In driving an automobile under present-day tramc conditions, it is absolutely essential that the driver have complete control over the car.

For this reason the braking system of the vehicle isof prime importance and it is among the objects of our invention to provide abraking system and means for controlling the operation of the brakes of motor vehicles which will reduce the effort and skill required to drive the vehicle to a minimum.

Other objects of our invention are: the provision of improved valve means for controlling the flow of fluid in fluid pressure brake systems and particularly in brakes of the type commonly known as vacuum brakes; the provision of a valve for controlling the operation of the actuating means for fluid pressure brakes by virtue of which the brakes may be smoothly and positively applied with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator and whichmay be instantly released when desired; the provision of an improved valve for controlling the action of fluid pressure operated devices which is susceptible to economical manufacture and which may be operated for long periods of time with a minimum of attention.

The above and other objects of our invention will appear from the following description of a preferred form thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a vacuum brake operating cylinder for motor vehicles having our improved valve and valve controlling means incorporated therein.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross section of the cylinder and control valve. Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-'3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2,v but illustrating the valve in open position.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 is a section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 2.

In the usual form of automobile control one pedal is provided for operating the brakes and another pedal for operating the clutch.

Referring to Fig. 1, the brake pedal 1 may be connected in any suitable manner to any desired form of braking system. The clutch pedal 2 in like manner may be connected to control the action of the clutch in well known manner. In operating an automobile equipped with our brake actuating mechanism, the brakes may be applied by the foot pedal 1 and the'clutch may be disengaged by the pedal 2 in standard and well known manner without bringing into action our braking mechanism. However, when desired, the brakes can be applied by our vacuum actuated apparatus by merely pushing down on the clutch pedal further than is required for the normal operation of the clutch.

Pivoted to the brake pedal 1 is a lost motion connecting link 3 which in turn is connected to the piston rod 4 as best shown in Fig. 1.

The link 3 is hollow (Fig. 4) and the piston (0 rod 4 carries a nut 5 which is adapted to move in the hollow portion of the link 3. The piston rod 4 has a sliding fit in the bearing portion 6 of the link 3 and it will be seen that this hollow link construction provides a connection between the brake pedal 1 and the piston 4 whereby the brake pedal may be pushed down without moving the piston rod 4. When the brake pedal is depressed the bearing portion 6 of the link 3 merely slides on the brake rod without appreciable friction or effect on the pedal operation. When the pedal 1 is in its normal brake released position the link 3 and the piston rod 4 occupy the relative' positions illustrated in Fig. 1, and it will be seen that whenever the piston 7 moves to the left (Fig. 2) the brake pedal 1 will be depressed and the brakes will be applied in the same manner as though the foot pedal had been pushed down by the driver.

The piston 7 is adapted to move in the cylinder 8. A spring 9 is disposed within the cylinder 8 and tends to hold the piston 7 at the upper end thereof. The cylinder 8 is connected to the intake manifold M of the automobile engine by the pipe 10 which is connected to the control valve generally indicated at 11 in the drawings. This control valve 11 is adapted to control the flow of air from cylinder 8 into the intake manifold M. I

The valve 11 is actuated only when the clutch pedal 2 is depressed more than is normally required for the disengagement of the clutch. This is accomplished by providing the push rod 12 which is connected to the lever 13 which effects the actual operation of the valve as will be more fully explained later. As best seen in Fig. 1 the rod 12 stops short of the normal disengaged position of the clutch pedal 2. A contact member 14 may be secured to the shank of the clutch pedal 2 and this member 14 is adapted toengage the end of the rod 12 when the clutch pedal 2 has been depressed to a position beyond that required to fully disengage the clutch. In Fig. 1 the clutch pedal 2 may be considered as being shown in the partially depressed position where the clutch is disengaged. This is substantially the position to which the pedal would be depressed in shifting gears. However, if it is desired to actuate our brake operating mechanism the clutch pedal is depressed further until the member 14 engages the end of the rod 12 and pushes it downwardly swinging the lever 13 about its pivot and opening the valve 11. When the valve 11 is open it permits the air to be drawn out of the cylinder 8 by the vacuum in the intake manifold M thus decreasing the pressure in the cylinder 8 and causing the piston 7 to move towards the lower or valve end of the cylinder. This movement of the piston 7 pulls the brake pedal 1 downwardly and operates the brakes of the vehicle in the same manner as though they had been applied by pressure of the operators foot.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2, 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings, our improved valve for controlling the operation of the vehicle brakes, consists essentially of a cup-shaped cap member 15 which is internally threaded at its open end and screwed into position on the end of the cylinder 8. A secondary internal cup-shaped member 16 has a flange 17 which fits in the bore of the end cap 15. This cup member 16 is firmly held in position when the cap 15 is screwed into place on the end of the cylinder 8. The end wall 18 of the cupshaped member 16 forms a chamber 19 with the walls of the cap 15. A diaphragm 20, which is preferably of corrugated metallic construction, is disposed in the chamber 19 and firmly held at its periphery between the flange 17 and the shoulder 21 of the cap 15. A passage is provided into the chamber 19 through a cylindrical tubular extension 22 on the diaphragm 20 which projects outwardly from the center of the diaphragm and extends through a hole in the end of the cap 15. Suitable packing 23 of leather or like material is preferably provided to maintain a fluid tight joint around the outside of the tube 22. This packing is held in position by a ring 24 which may be screwed into position in the cap 15. The wall 18 of the secondary cup member 16 is formed with a number of holes 25 adjacent its outer edge which afford free communication between the chamber 19 and the inside of the cylinder 8.

A second diaphragm, 26 is disposed within the cup-shaped member 16. As illustrated, this diaphragm is made up of a flexible leather disc 27, which is held at its outer edge by the clamping ring 28, and a reinforcing plate 29. A plunger 30 having an enlarged disc-shaped head portion 31 is secured to the center of the diaphragm 26 by the nut 32. This plunger 30 extends out through the wall 18 and the enlarged'disc head 31 is disposed in the chamber 19. The packing 33 assists in forming a fluid tight joint around the plunger 30 and may be held in position by the threaded ring 34.

The open end of the cup-shaped member 16 is closed by a plate 35 which is threaded into the open end of the cup. This plate 35 is provided with a small vent hole 36 for purposes which will be fully described later. A spring 37 is disposed between the plate 35 and the diaphragm 26 and tends to always maintain the diaphragm against the central portion 38 of the wall 18.

As clearly seen in Figs. 2 and 5, the spring 9, which tends to force the piston 7 toward the upper end of the cylinder 8 may be seated on the plate 35 and be held in position by the annular flange 39. Y

The closure member 40 is secured to the end of a tube 41 which extends out through the cylinder 22 and through a bearing 42 which is formed integrally with the end cap 15. This bearing 42 supports the tube 41 and the closure member 40 and permits them to be moved in the operation of the valve. The outer end of the tube 41 is open to the atmosphere and the inner end lies Within the chamber 19. A flange 43 is secured to the outer end of the tube 41 and acts as an abutment for the spring 44 which tends to hold the tube 41 in its farthest left position and to maintain the closure member 40 seated against the diaphragm 20 as is best seen in Fig. 2. The closure member 40 may be provided with packing ring 40' to assist its seating against the diaphragm 20 and the disc 31.

The valve is operated by moving the tube 41 and the closure member 40 as will be more fully described later, and, to effect this movement we have provided a very simple and efficient operating mechanism. This mechanism consists of a plate 45 which is pivotally mounted at its lower end on the outwardly extending lug 46 of the end cap 15. This plate 45 is formed with a hole 47 which is adapted to fit over the end of the tube 41 and has an upwardly extending tongue portion 48 which is adapted to co-act with the flattened portion 49' of the shaft49 to move the tube 41 and the closure member 40. The spring 44 maintains the flange 43 in contact with the plate 45 and the angular position of the shaft 49 determines the position of the plate 45.

When the flat portion 49 of the shaft 49 is parallel to the surface of the plate 45 (Fig. 2) the closure member is in its farthest left position and the valve is closed. When the shaft 49 is turned by movement of the lever 13 which is secured to one end thereof, the plate 45 will be moved about its pivot point and will exert pressure on the flange 43 thus compressing the spring 44 and moving the tube 41 and closure member 40 to the right. This movement of the closure member 40 opens the valve to the action of the suction in the intake manifold M and the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 5. It will be understood that the amount of movement imparted to the closure member 40 depends directly upon the degree of rotation given to the shaft 49.

As is best seen in Fig. 3 the shaft 49 is rotatably supported in the lugs 50 and 51 which protrude from the end of the cap 15.

As noted above, the valve is connected to the intake manifold of the vehicle engine by a pipe 7 10. This pipe 10 enters the end cap 15 at 52 and a chamber 53 is formed in the cap 15 to provide free communication between the pipe 10 and the chamber 19. It will be noted that the tube 41 is of smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the tube 22 so that a free passage is provided between the two tubular members.

The entire valve and cylinder unit is preferably mounted on a suitable bracket 63 which is secured to the frame of the vehicle and the bolt or pin 54 acts as a pivotal support for the unit. This permits the cylinder 8 to swing about the pivot 54 when the piston rod 3 moves to actuate the vehicle brakes. This pivotal connection is necessary in the installation illustrated because of the angular relation of the brake pedal 1 and the piston rod 3.

The end of the cylinder 8 opposite from the valve end is closed by an end cap 55. This end cap has a bearing portion 56 which is adapted to support and guide the piston rod 3 and is also provided with a vent hole 57 which allows atmospheric pressure to be exerted on the right hand end of the piston at all times.

Assuming that the engine of the motor vehicle is running, thus creating a partial vacuum in the intake manifold, the operation of our apparatus to effect the application of the vehicle brakes is as follows: When the operator depresses the clutch pedal 2 enough to engage the end of the rod 12, any further downward movement of the pedal 2 from this point on moves the rod 12 and swings the lever 13 about its pivot. If we assume that the parts of the valve mechanism and the piston and cylinder are in the position shown in Fig. 2, this movement of the lever 13 turns the shaft 49 and the flat portion 49 thereof acts as a cam or eccentric and swings the plate 45 inwardly against the spring 44. As the plate 45 contacts with the flange 43, which is secured to the tube 41, thismovement of the plate 45 moves the tube 41 into the valve housing. This movement of the tube 41 causes the closure member 40 to leave its seat on the central portion of the diaphragm 20 and, at the same time, push against the disc 31 causing the diaphragm 26 to move correspondingly.

The parts of the valve apparatus will now be in the position shown in Fig. 5 and it will be seen that the chamber 19 is connected to the suction of the intake manifold through the pipe 10. As the chamber 19 is connected with the cylinder 8 through the holes 25 in the wall 18, air will be withdrawn from the cylinder 8 and the piston 7 will move to the left. This movement of the piston '7 will pull downwardly on the brake pedal 1 and the brakes of the vehicle will be applied in the same manner as though applied manually by the operator.

The diaphragm 20 is spaced from the end of the cap 15 forming a chamber 58 on the opposite side of the diaphragm 20 from the chamber 19. This chamber 58 is connected to the atmosphere through a vent hole 59 in the end wall of the cap 15. If the closure member 20 is moved only a slight distance away from its seat on the central portion of the diaphragm 20, only a small amount of air will be withdrawn from the cylinder before the atmospheric pressure in the chamber 58 pushes the diaphragm 20 back to its seated position against the closure member 40, thus shutting off the intake manifold from the cylinder 8 and stopping the withdrawal of air therefrom. If the operator pushes the foot pedal further down, the closure member 40 is again moved away from its seat on the diaphragm 20 and a certain additional quantity of air is again withdrawn from the cylinder before the atmospheric pressure again pushes the diaphragm 20 into its seated position against the closure member 40. The total effective vacuum in the intake manifold may thus be applied in small degrees to the cylinder and piston rather than all at once, and it will be seen by those skilled in the art that I obtain a very smooth and gradual movement of the piston '7 and a correspondingly smooth and effective brake action.

For any definite position of the closure member 40, a certain degree of vacuum will be maintained within the cylinder 8, and thus a definite unvarying braking force will be applied to the piston 7 and its connections until the position of the closure member 40 is changed. When it is desired to release the brakes, the foot pedal 2 is allowed to return to its normal position and the spring 60 will pull the rod 12 back until the lever 13 strikes the stop 61. The spring 44 will then act to cause the closure member 40 to seat against the diaphragm 20 cutting off the intake manifold from the chamber 19. At the same time, the closure member 40 will move away from its seat on the disc 31 and the chamber 19 will be open to the atmosphere through the tube 41. During the brake application, the chamber 62 in the inner diaphragm supporting member 16 is under the same vacuum conditions as the inside of the cylinder 8 as the air within the chamber 62 will be withdrawn through the small vent hole 36. This hole 36 is preferably small enough so that an appreciable time will be consumed in bringing the chamber 62 to the same conditions of pressure as maintain in the cylinder 8. The result of this construction is that, when the closure member 40 is moved away from the disc 31, air under atmospheric pressure rushes in through the tube 41 and the chamber 19 to the cylinder 8, raising the pressure therein to that of the atmosphere, and allowing the spring 9 and the regular brake retracting springs to act upon the piston '7 to move it in the brake releasing direction. As the vent hole 36 is small, the flow of air therethrough from the cylinder 8 into the chamber 62 will be relatively slow and a partial vacuum will be maintained within the chamber 62 after the interior of the cylinder 8 reaches atmospheric pressure. The maintenance of this vacuum within the chamber 62 prevents the diaphragm 26 and the disc 31 from immediately following the movement of the closure member 40 and closing the connection between the cylinder 8 and the atmosphere before the cylinder has reached atmospheric pressure.

When the pressure in the cylinder '8 and the chamber 62 becomes equalized, that is, both reach atmospheric pressure, the diaphragm 26 and the disc 31 will return to their normal off position (Fig. 2) with the disc 31 seated against the closure member 40, thus completely closing off the cylinder 8 and the chamber 62 from external influences.

From the above description it will be seen by those skilled in the art that we have provided a vacuum actuated brake and a vacuum brake control valve which will give a very smooth and even braking action and which will permit the instant release of the brakes whenever the operator so desires.

Although we have described one embodiment of our invention in some detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications and variations thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention. We do not, therefore. limit ourselves to the precise details shown and described, but claim as our invention all embodiments thereof coming within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim: 1

1. A valve of the class described having a plurality of chambers, a closure member in one of said chambers adapted to be connected to means for withdrawing fluid from said chambers, means for moving said closure in one direction to permit fluid to be withdrawn from said chambers and in the other direction to connect one chamber to the atmosphere through a relatively large opening and the other chamber to the atmos phere through a relatively small opening.

2. A valve for controlling the flow of actuating fluid to and from the cylinder of a brake actuating device comprising a housing divided into spaced diaphragm chambers, diaphragms disposed in said chambers, a plunger secured to one of said diaphragms and extending therefrom into the chamber of the other of said diaphragms, a closure member adapted normally to seat on both said plunger and said other diaphragm, means for moving said closure member in one direction away from the diaphragm against which it normally seats, and means for holding, said plunger away from said closure member while said closure member is moving toward said diaphragm on which it seats.

3. A valve for controlling the flow of actuating fluid to and from a cylinder comprising a housing having a pair of diaphragm chambers, diaphragms disposed in each of said chambers, valve means adapted in one position to connect said chambers to a source of vacuum, and to atmospheric pressure when in another position, said housing having a relatively large fluid passage from one of said chambers to said cylinder and a restricted fluid passage from the other of said chambers to said cylinder.

4. A valve for controlling the flow of actuating fluid to and from a cylinder comprising a main housing, an auxiliary housing, a diaphragm disposed in said main housing and open on one side to the atmosphere and on the other side to the inside of the cylinder, a diaphragm in said auxiliary housing, a restricted fluid passage between said auxiliary housing and said cylinder, a relatively unrestricted fluid passage between said main diaphragm chamber and said cylinder and valve closure means for connecting said cylinder and said chambers selectively to the influence of a vacuum or to the influence of atmospheric pressure and means for operating said valve closure means.

5. A valve for controlling the flow of fluid to and from the cylinder of a brake actuating device comprising a housing having a main diaphragm chamber and an auxiliary diaphragm chamber, said main diaphragm chamber having relatively unrestricted communication with the cylinder and said auxiliary diaphragm chamber having relatively restricted communication with said cylinder, a main diaphragm in said main chamber, an auxiliary diaphragm in said auxiliary diaphragm chamber, a plunger extending from and connected to said auxiliary diaphragm and projecting into said main diaphragm chamber, a valve member adapted to seat on said main diaphragm and against said plunger, fluid passages leading from said main diaphragm chamber to the intake manifold of an engine and a second fluid passage leading from said main diaphragm chamber-to the atmosphere, and means for moving said valve member to connect said diaphragm chamber either to said intake manifold or to the atmosphere.

6. In a valve of the class described, a housing, a closure member within said housing, means for moving said closure member in opening and closing direction to control the connection of a source of actuating pressure to a cylinder and means, including a diaphragm actuated by the actuating pressure and a movable seat secured to said diaphragm, for connecting the cylinder to the atmos-' phere when said closure member is moved in closing direction.

7. In a valve for controlling the connections between a cylinder, a source of actuating fluid pressure and the atmosphere, a closure member, said closuref member being normally positioned to close the connections between said source of fluid pressure and the atmosphere, means for moving said closure member to connect the cylinder to the actuating pressure source while maintaining the atmospheric connections closed and means, including a diaphragm actuated by the actuating pressure and a movable seat member secured to said diaphragm, for opening the connection between the atmosphere and the cylinder when the closure member is moved to shut off the actuating pressure from the cylinder.

8. In a valve of the class described, a. closure member having oppositely disposed seating surfaces, movable seats adapted normally to engage the seating surfaces of said closure member, means for moving one seating surface of said closure member out of seating engagement with one of said seats while maintaining the other seating surface in engagement with the other seat and means, including a diaphragm responsive to the actuating pressure, for retarding the movement of said second seat when said closure member is moved in the opposite direction whereby the closure member will be unseated from the second seat 9. In a valve for controlling the connections between a cylinder, a source of actuating fluid pressure and the atmosphere, a closure member having two seating surfaces, a movable seat adapted to co-act with one seating surface of said closure member to control the actuating pressure connections to the cylinder, a second movable seat adapted to co-act with the other seating surface of said closure member to control the atmospheric connection to the cylinder, said seats being normally positioned to engage both seating surfaces of said closure member to close both the atmospheric and actuating pressure connections to the cylinder, means for moving said closure member and said second movable seat in a direction to open the actuating pressure connection to the cylinder while maintaining the atmospheric connection closed and means for momentarily retarding movement of said second seat when the closure member is moved in closing direction whereby the cylinder will be momentarily connected to the atmosphere.

10. In apparatus of the class described, a diaphragm, a valve closure member normally seated against said diaphragm, a second diaphragm, a seat carried by said second diaphragm and normally seated against said closure member, and means actuated by fluid pressure for retarding movement of said second diaphragm and its seat when said closure member is moved toward said first named diaphragm.

11. In a valve for controlling the actuating fluid connections to the cylinder of a brake actuating device, a housing divided into spaced diaphragm chambers, diaphragms disposed in said chambers, a plunger member secured to one of said diaphragms and extending therefrom into the chamber of the other of said diaphragms, a closure member adapted normally to seat on both said plunger and said other diaphragm, means for moving said closure member away from the diaphragm against which it normally seats, and means for momentarily retarding the movement of said plunger and the diaphragm to which it is secured when said closure member is moved in a direction away from said plunger whereby said closure member will be unseated from said plunger.

12. In a valve for controlling the actuating fluid connections to the cylinder of a brake actuating device, a housing divided into spaced diaphragm chambers, diaphragms disposed in said chambers, a plunger member secured to one of said diaphragms and extending therefrom into the chamber of the other of said diaphragms, a

closure member adapted to normally seat on both 

